Reflections, commentaries, critiques and ideas from 40 years experience in the fields of Community Development, Community Education and Social Justice. Useful tools and techniques that I have learnt also added occassionally.

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The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.

Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Changing the World One Coffee at a Time

How do you change the world? There are many emergencies that face us.
Whether the emergency that concerns you is a global one (climate change,
refugees, war, famine etc), a national one (the crime rate, domestic violence,
teenage suicide etc) or focused at a local level (green space for children to
play in, urban development etc) then I suggest we all have a cup of coffee.

But this is not just any coffee. Coffee here is a simple acronym that helps
us think about how we undertake change in a complex, chaotic world. COFFEE
stands for: Creative Opportunities FlowFrom Encouraging Encounters. Let’s tease out each of these words
a little:

Creative. To paraphrase Einstein, we cannot solve the world’s
emergencies with the type of thinking that built them. We will need our
collective, diverse creative talents. Creativity implies being open to new and
unexpected thoughts, ideas and intuitions. It is also worth noting that the
idea of left brain – right brain is a myth; so we can all be creative. The
creativity we need is not of a technological nature either. We need a
creativity of spirit, a creativity of consciousness. We need soul-centred and
eco-centred creativity.

Opportunities. The word derives from old Latin: ob =
towards, and portus = harbour. So, opportunity represents movement
towards a favourable place. It means seeking, being inquisitive and curious.
It means not accepting the status quo. We can find opportunity in many guises,
even in adversity.

Flow. “Go with the flow” is a common phrase and here it has a similar
sense. Why battle the current? Why not, as many Eastern martial arts
practitioners advise, use the energy that exists. It does not mean that we are
always heading towards our goal, occasionally the flow may become an eddy, a
whirlpool or cataracts. As any kayaker knows, fighting against these flows will
often end in disaster. Going with the flow means staying in the now, the
present. However, it does not imply a non-thinking, laissez-faire, laid-back
approach. It is active. Much like the kayaker, who knows that to stay in the
flow they must keep paddling, making sure that the kayak does not get swept
against the rocks or flipped upside-down by a standing wave.

From. What we do emerges from our encounters. Our actions are not
pre-determined or planned by a far-away authority and then dictated to us.
Change starts with and flows from us, and it flows from the present; we are not
dictated by the future. This means that we must be wary of the cult of
expertness. Certainly listen to and use the knowledge of experts, but when it
comes to decision-making, we all have a role to play.

Encouraging. Who operates better when praised, acknowledged or
congratulated? Most of us think and create at a higher level when we are
encouraged. This means that we are encouraged not just in our successes but also
in our failures or mistakes. There are many skills and techniques involved in
being an encouraging person: creative listening, empathy, being present,
building trust, speaking thoughtfully, appropriate use of humour, offering food.

Encounters. In a world of complexity we need to embrace our diversity
of experience, knowledge, skills, and wisdom. This means we must encounter one
another. We must join in respectful dialogue, in circle discussion. There are
a myriad techniques for encouraging encounters (e.g. World Café, Appreciative
Enquiry, Open Space Technology, Future Search, Citizen Juries ….) Furthermore,
our encounters are ones in which power shifts from the top to the bottom, from
the centre to the margins, from hierarchies to interconnected networks.

Although I’ve just thrown out some thoughts about each of these six words,
the power of the acronym is in its whole. It tells us that if we create open,
and caring spaces (Encouraging Encounters) then the solutions (Creative
Opportunities) to the many emergencies we face are able to emerge (Flow From).

Thus, if we are going to overcome the emergencies that face us, we are going
to have to embrace complexity, chaos and emergence. We are going to have to
meet one another, discover each other’s skills, share our collective wisdom.
Mostly, we are going to have to talk with one another (including strangers) over
COFFEE.
You’ll notice that this acronym says nothing about applied techniques,
nor does it offer a step-by-step process. Instead, it talks about a way of
thinking, a mindset if you like. This is deliberate. In my professional work I
have not presented solutions; rather I have sought to create spaces within which
people can discover their own solutions. I’m not about to change that here.
But I do have a challenge for you. That is this: how can COFFEE assist
in your own work for social justice and sustainability?

This acronym is at the heart of a book soon to be published.
OPPORTUNITIES EMERGING: Social Change in a Complex World goes into
greater depth on each of the words of the acronym, as well as looking at the
overall meaning of the acronym. The book also provides a context within which
complexity can be readily understood so that those of us dealing with complexity
are better equipped to understand its nuances. Check out the facebook page here.

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About Me

I have almost 40 years experience working (paid and unpaid, government and non-government) in community development/education and social justice fields. I have continued to keep myself abreast of philosophies and theories in these and related fields. This blogsite will offer ideas, thoughts, reflections on these fields as well as giving some tools and techniques. I don't pretend that these will be original but I do hope that they will be able to translate some of these diverse ideas into coherent forms accessible to workers in the areas.